Elizabeth Truss is launching the Bee and Pollinator Strategy, which aims to reverse declines in pollinating insects such as bees that contribute £430 million a year in pollinating crops, as she makes her first major speech since becoming environment secretary.

The Bee and Pollinator Strategy includes investment in scientific research to gather more information on the condition of bees and other insects and a "Bees Needs" website to give the public advice on helping bees in their local area.

A 71-year-old woman suffered around 1,000 stings in Southern California after being attacked by a swarm of 'killer' Africanised honey bees that covered her entire body.

So Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Williams says the woman was expected to recover after Thursday's attack in Palm Desert. He said five firefighters were also treated in hospital for stings.

Around 80,000 bees were disturbed by a workman, who was also stung, when he attempted to access an underground electrical vault. The bees then attacked the woman, who had just got out of her car nearby.

Advertisement

Thieves have stolen a hive containing thousands of sleeping bees in Norwich.

The hive was stolen from a community garden between December 13 and 22 and contained bees hibernating for the winter. Hives are typically home to between 20,000 and 60,000 bees.

A Norfolk Police spokesman said: "It would have taken two people to move the structure."Police are keen to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has information concerning the whereabouts of the stolen hive."

Exposure to pollution from diesel exhaust fumes can disrupt honeybees' ability to recognize the smells of flowers and could in future affect pollination and global food security, researchers said on Thursday.

In a study published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, scientists from the University of Southampton found that the fumes change the profile of the floral odors that attract bees to forage from one flower to the next.

"Diesel exposure alters floral odours and it's a significant enough change in the chemistry to impact on the honeybee's ability to recognise that odour," said Dr Tracey Newman, a neuroscientist involved in the report.